Israel has killed over 10,000 Gazan women since October 7th – Day 193

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate says Israeli forces arrested some 100 journalists since October 7.

At least 40 of them remain in Israeli custody, the syndicate said. Most of the journalists were beaten at the moment of arrest, it added.

According to the syndicate, many of detained journalists were held under administrative detention, a controversial and vague legal process that allows Israel to imprison Palestinians without charge or trial.

West Bank

Palestinian Human Rights Orgs Urge Global Intervention as Israeli Forces and Settler Violence Intensifies Across the West Bank

In the midst of Israel’s genocidal attacks in Gaza, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) urge the international community, private actors and businesses, to respond to the widespread violent attacks against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank.

Violent Israeli military and settler attacks have been escalating in intensity and scale ––between 7 October 2023 and 15 April 2024…

Like the ongoing assault on Gaza, the current escalation in the West Bank does not take place in a vacuum. Between 1 January and 31 October 2023, there were at least 1,038 incidents of settler violence.

Since 7 October 2023, settler attacks have more than doubled from an average of three to eight incidents a day. Similarly, the rate of Palestinians displaced has more than doubled –– an increase of nearly 119 percent –– as 280 Palestinians are now being displaced on average every month due to demolitions.

This is a direct result of Israeli settlement expansion, which is at its highest level since UN monitoring began in 2017, and Israel’s illegal designation of a record amount of West Bank land as state-owned.

(Read the full call to action here.)

HRW: West Bank: Israel Responsible for Rising Settler Violence

The Israeli military either took part in or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank that have displaced people from 20 communities and have entirely uprooted at least 7 communities since October 7, 2023, Human Rights Watch said today.

Israeli settlers have assaulted, tortured, and committed sexual violence against Palestinians, stolen their belongings and livestock, threatened to kill them if they did not leave permanently, and destroyed their homes and schools under the cover of the ongoing hostilities in Gaza. Many Palestinians, including entire communities, have fled their homes and lands. The military has not assured displaced residents that it will protect their security or allow them to return, forcing them to live in precarious conditions elsewhere.

“Settlers and soldiers have displaced entire Palestinian communities, destroying every home, with the apparent backing of higher Israeli authorities,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “While the attention of the world is focused on Gaza, abuses in the West Bank, fueled by decades of impunity and complacency among Israel’s allies, are soaring.”

(Read the full report here.)

Israel Demolishes Al-Araqeeb Bedouin Village For 224th Time

IMEMC reports: On Tuesday, the Israeli army, the police and the undercover soldiers invaded the Al-Araqeeb Bedouin village, in the Negev, and demolished it form the 224^th time since 2010.

Media sources said the soldiers and the police invaded the ‘unrecognized’ village, on Tuesday in the afternoon, after surrounding and isolating it.

They added that the soldiers then forced the residents out of their dwellings before demolishing their residential tents, sheds and barns.

Israeli occupation authorities issue decision to seize 64 dunums of Palestinian land near Hebron

WAFA reports: The Israeli occupation authorities issued a military decision to seize 64 dunums of citizens’ land in the Al-Bouira area, located north of the city of Hebron, in order to establish a residential and industrial colony.

This decision comes in conjunction with settlement expansion, the pace of which has increased in light of the war on the Gaza Strip and attention has been drawn to it.

NOTE: In just the last few weeks, Israel has seized over 10,000 dunums of Palestinian land in the West Bank – in violation of international law.

Amnesty International stated:  “As long as the world continues to turn a blind eye to Israel’s relentless land grab and settlement expansion, both serious violations of international humanitarian law, the human rights of Palestinians will continue to be trampled on with impunity and UN resolutions…will remain little more than empty gestures. The international community must take a clear stand and show that it will no longer tolerate Israel’s illegal policies of annexation and settlement.”

United States, United Nations

U.S. to query Israel about 6-year-old’s killing in Gaza, State Department says

Reuters reports: The U.S. State Department will ask Israel for more information about the January death of 6-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab in Gaza, spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday, calling for a full investigation into the matter after a Washington Post report cast doubt on Israel’s earlier explanation.

The terrified girl trapped in a car in Gaza with her dead family had begged for help in a phone call to rescuers, in which gunfire could be heard as she described Israeli forces drawing near.

Relatives found her body 12 days later along with those of her aunt, uncle and their three children in their car near an ambulance and two dead ambulance workers who had tried to save her.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that an investigation had found Israeli armored vehicles were present in the area, contrary to the Israeli Defense Forces’ claim that a preliminary investigation had found its forces were not within firing range of the car in which she was trapped.

“We’re going to go back to the government of Israel and ask them for further information,” Miller said at a press briefing, calling Hind Rajab’s death “an unspeakable tragedy, something that never should have occurred and never should occur.”

“We would still welcome a full investigation into this matter and how it occurred in the first place,” Miller added.

US House resolution condemns ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ chant as ‘antisemitic’

The New Arab reports: A US House resolution has been passed that describes the popular pro-Palestinian protest slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic and that its use must be condemned.

The measure passed by an overwhelming majority of 377-44-1, with 43 Democrats and one Republican voting against it and with one member voting “present” on Tuesday.

The text of the resolution notes that the words are used in speeches by the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated by US Congress as “foreign terrorist organizations”.

Most of those who voted against the resolution were progressive-leaning Democrats, many of them currently campaigning in competitive primary races, including Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Cori Bush of Missouri, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Jamaal Bowman of New York.

ESSENTIAL READING: The Phrase “From the River to the Sea” Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does

NOTE: Actual antisemitism is not as prevalent as Israel partisans would like us to think. A large portion of what they call antisemitism is simply criticism of Israel, the self-proclaimed “Jewish State.” Most of the animosity Israel experiences is opposition to Zionism. Zionism is not a benign philosophy, but a racist ideology – the ideology under which Israel dispossessed 750,000 Palestinian people and exiled them to Gaza and other locations. The so-called “demonization” of Israel is in most cases a legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies of occupation, apartheid, and genocide, and other illegal practices.

Pro-Israel organizations consistently work to silence Palestine advocacy on campus – a free speech violation. One strategy they use is to pressure universities to officially adopt the IHRA “definition” of antisemitism, which defines legitimate criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Other strategies include blocking prestigious appointments of and events with supporters of Palestinian rights, threatening to withhold major donations, and more. But supporters of Palestine on campus are fighting back.

U.S. officials expect Israeli response to Iran’s retaliatory strikes will be limited

The U.S. does not intend to take part in the military response, the officials added. They do expect Israel to share information about the actions with Washington in advance, specifically if it could have negative repercussions for Americans in the region.

Al Jazeera adds: Speaking by phone to Qatar’s emir, Ebrahim Raisi declared Iran’s aerial attack against Israel to be a success and said Iran would deliver an even more “painful” blow if there are future threat to its interests.

“We now categorically declare that the smallest action against Iranian interests will certainly be met with a severe, widespread and painful response against all its perpetrators,” the Iranian president said, according to IRNA news agency.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani told state TV that Tehran’s counterattack following any Israeli retaliation would be “a matter of seconds as Iran will not wait for another 12 days to respond”.

Democracy Now! adds: While Iran “does not want to escalate matters,” Israel may be preparing to do just that. Washington, D.C.-based analyst Trita Parsi says that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been trying to instigate conflict between the U.S. and Iran for “more than two decades,” and given that Biden has demonstrated an unwillingness to “draw any red lines for Israel publicly,” these latest provocations could become a prime “opportunity” for such a war. Crucially, Iranian restraint “cannot last forever.”

Watch Amy Goodman’s interview with Israeli journalist Gideon Levy and others here.